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Field Notes

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Two tan butterflies with orange speckles on their wings sipping nectar from orange blossoms

Mariton: Annual Butterfly Census

June 30, 2021

by Tim Burris, Preserve Manager.  Photos by Carole Mebus and Marilyn Hessinger, Volunteers. Mariton held its 31st Annual Butterfly Census on Saturday.  We had a…

A tree branch with some of the bark peeled off showing small holes from cicadas

Mariton: What’s On The Menu?

June 25, 2021

by Tim Burris, Preserve Manager. I was recently camping with some friends.  As we sat around the campfire, we started talking about the Brood X…

Close up of an Eastern Bluebird on a wooden nest box with an insect in its mouth

building an insect factory.

June 18, 2021

Ten years ago, a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks built a nest in a tall white pine at the southern edge of Hildacy Preserve, Natural Lands’…

A woman with short brown hair stands smiling in front of a white blooming magnolia tree

loyalty to a legacy.

Marlene Campbell had never heard of Natural Lands, but she certainly knew about Stoneleigh, the former home of John and Chara Haas in Villanova. In…

barrens restoration. plugging away.

June 14, 2021

On a hot August afternoon last summer, 8 volunteers worked to dig holes in the rocky, blue-green substrate at a section of ChesLen Preserve known…

An open wooden bird box reveals a bird's nest made from dried grass with four blue eggs

Mariton: Quick Turn-around

June 13, 2021

by Tim Burris, Preserve Manager The fledgling Eastern Bluebirds in the above photo had left the nest by May 25. I am sure that the…

close up of a cluster of whitish yellow flowers from poison ivy

Mariton: Name this Wildflower

June 11, 2021

by Tim Burris, Preserve Manager This wildflower is quite abundant right now all over our region… but I bet very few people take a moment…

close up of a cicada insect with clear wings and black body upside down on a twig

nature’s flying hotdog

June 10, 2021

Brood X might sound like the name of the latest superhero movie but the emergence of this year’s 17-year cicadas has far more in common…

Close up of a brown patterned butterfly with its wings folded almost closed resting on the dirt ground

Mariton: Butterfly Fields Forever

by Tim Burris, Preserve Manager.  Photos by Carole Mebus, Volunteer Butterfly Walks started with hot steamy weather.  Good for butterflies, tough on the watchers.  Little…